The Doha Film Institute (Dfi) has selected 44 projects for its 2024 spring grants cycle, including Mahdi Fleifel’s To A Land Unknown, which has its world premiere in Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes next Wednesday, May 22.
Fleifel’s fiction feature debut is a crime thriller about a Palestinian refugee living on the fringes of Athens society, who seeks revenge on the smuggler who ripped him off.
Scroll down for the full list of grants
Palestinian-Danish filmmaker Fleifel studied at the UK’s National Film and Television School, and previously made 2012 feature-length documentary A World Not Ours, which played at the Berlinale and Cph:dox.
Fleifel’s fiction feature debut is a crime thriller about a Palestinian refugee living on the fringes of Athens society, who seeks revenge on the smuggler who ripped him off.
Scroll down for the full list of grants
Palestinian-Danish filmmaker Fleifel studied at the UK’s National Film and Television School, and previously made 2012 feature-length documentary A World Not Ours, which played at the Berlinale and Cph:dox.
- 5/17/2024
- ScreenDaily
The Doha Film Institute (Dfi) kicked off its 10th Qumra talent and project incubator meeting on a somber note on Friday as its organizers spoke out about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Some 200 international industry professionals are due to attend the Qatari event, running from March 1 to 6, to nurture 40 projects by emerging filmmakers. The event is a cornerstone of the Dfi’s activities.
“While we celebrate the progress that we have made in nurturing new voices in cinema, we are also confronted with the genocide in Gaza and the ongoing attempts to silence the voices crying out against it,” said Dfi CEO Fatma Hassan Al Remaihi.
“This cultural genocide is a profound reminder of our responsibility as a global community to ensure that all voices are heard, and all lives are treated with dignity and respect.”
Hassan Al Remaihi was speaking the day after Gaza authorities accused Israeli soldiers...
Some 200 international industry professionals are due to attend the Qatari event, running from March 1 to 6, to nurture 40 projects by emerging filmmakers. The event is a cornerstone of the Dfi’s activities.
“While we celebrate the progress that we have made in nurturing new voices in cinema, we are also confronted with the genocide in Gaza and the ongoing attempts to silence the voices crying out against it,” said Dfi CEO Fatma Hassan Al Remaihi.
“This cultural genocide is a profound reminder of our responsibility as a global community to ensure that all voices are heard, and all lives are treated with dignity and respect.”
Hassan Al Remaihi was speaking the day after Gaza authorities accused Israeli soldiers...
- 3/1/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
It is the busiest time of the year for Doha Film Institute (Dfi) CEO Fatma Hassan Al Remaihi and her team as they gear up the 10th edition of the org’s Qumra talent and project incubator.
The initiative is a cornerstone of the activities of the Dfi which was launched in 2010 to help nurture a local film and TV sector as well as the wider independent filmmaking community in the Middle East and North Africa.
From March 1 to 6, some 250 professionals – including this year’s Qumra Masters Leos Carax, Toni Collette, Claire Denis, Atom Egoyan, Martín Hernández, and Jim Sheridan – will gather in Doha to support 40 projects by emerging directors, selected from recent Dfi grantees.
The Dfi also runs year-round grants programs, workshops and screenings for locally based filmmakers as well as Mena directors and a handful of emerging talents outside of the region. In a separate funding stream, it...
The initiative is a cornerstone of the activities of the Dfi which was launched in 2010 to help nurture a local film and TV sector as well as the wider independent filmmaking community in the Middle East and North Africa.
From March 1 to 6, some 250 professionals – including this year’s Qumra Masters Leos Carax, Toni Collette, Claire Denis, Atom Egoyan, Martín Hernández, and Jim Sheridan – will gather in Doha to support 40 projects by emerging directors, selected from recent Dfi grantees.
The Dfi also runs year-round grants programs, workshops and screenings for locally based filmmakers as well as Mena directors and a handful of emerging talents outside of the region. In a separate funding stream, it...
- 2/28/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Toni Collette will attend Doha Film Institute (Dfi)’s Qumra project development incubator in Qatar in March.
The Australian actress and producer joins the Qumra Masters programme, through which she will take part in a conversation about her career for the audience of 200 Qumra attendees.
Scroll down for the full list of Qumra feature-length projects
Collette will also mentor the creators of the projects in the Qumra lab, most of whom are first- or second-time filmmakers.
She joins previously announced masters Leos Carax, Claire Denis, Atom Egoyan, Martin Hernandez and Jim Sheridan for Qumra’s 10th edition, running from March...
The Australian actress and producer joins the Qumra Masters programme, through which she will take part in a conversation about her career for the audience of 200 Qumra attendees.
Scroll down for the full list of Qumra feature-length projects
Collette will also mentor the creators of the projects in the Qumra lab, most of whom are first- or second-time filmmakers.
She joins previously announced masters Leos Carax, Claire Denis, Atom Egoyan, Martin Hernandez and Jim Sheridan for Qumra’s 10th edition, running from March...
- 2/17/2024
- ScreenDaily
Australian Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actor and producer Toni Collette (Knives Out) has been announced as a Master at the 10th edition of the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra talent incubator, running from March 1 to 6.
She joins Leos Carax, Claire Denis, Atom Egoyan, Martín Hernández, and Jim Sheridan who were previously announced as Masters for the 2024 edition of the meeting dedicated to supporting new voices from Arab and world cinema.
They join a long list of top professionals to have participated in Qumra since its launch in 2014, which has included James Schamus, Naomi Kawase, Asghar Farhadi, Gael Garcia Bernal and Tilda Swinton.
Additionally, the Dfi has also announced the 40 projects by emerging filmmakers from more than 20 countries, that will participate in the event. (scroll down for full details).
Under the Qumra format, the Masters give a masterclass and provide one-on-one mentorship the talents attached to the projects, alongside a...
She joins Leos Carax, Claire Denis, Atom Egoyan, Martín Hernández, and Jim Sheridan who were previously announced as Masters for the 2024 edition of the meeting dedicated to supporting new voices from Arab and world cinema.
They join a long list of top professionals to have participated in Qumra since its launch in 2014, which has included James Schamus, Naomi Kawase, Asghar Farhadi, Gael Garcia Bernal and Tilda Swinton.
Additionally, the Dfi has also announced the 40 projects by emerging filmmakers from more than 20 countries, that will participate in the event. (scroll down for full details).
Under the Qumra format, the Masters give a masterclass and provide one-on-one mentorship the talents attached to the projects, alongside a...
- 2/17/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Qatar’s Doha Film Institute (Dfi) has announced that Leos Carax, Claire Denis, Atom Egoyan, Martín Hernández and Jim Sheridan will serve as Qumra Masters at the 10th edition of its respected talent incubator event, running from March 1 to 6.
They join a long list of top professionals to have participated in the Qumra meeting since its launch in 2014, which has included James Schamus, Naomi Kawase, Asghar Farhadi, Gael Garcia Bernal and Tilda Swinton.
Under the Qumra format, a select group of Mena and international filmmakers and producers of projects supported by the Dfi’s grants program attend the six-day talent and project incubator meeting in Doha.
The Qumra Masters give a masterclass and then provide one-on-one mentorship to the partipants alongside a host of other industry professionals in attendance.
French director Carax is currently working on post-production for his personal work It’s Not Me, which follows his award-winning pop-rock melodrama Annette,...
They join a long list of top professionals to have participated in the Qumra meeting since its launch in 2014, which has included James Schamus, Naomi Kawase, Asghar Farhadi, Gael Garcia Bernal and Tilda Swinton.
Under the Qumra format, a select group of Mena and international filmmakers and producers of projects supported by the Dfi’s grants program attend the six-day talent and project incubator meeting in Doha.
The Qumra Masters give a masterclass and then provide one-on-one mentorship to the partipants alongside a host of other industry professionals in attendance.
French director Carax is currently working on post-production for his personal work It’s Not Me, which follows his award-winning pop-rock melodrama Annette,...
- 2/5/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Claire Denis, Leox Carax, Jim Sheridan, Atom Egoyan and Martin Hernandez will be the Masters for the 10th edition of Qumra, the Doha Film Institute’s annual incubator event.
The four directors plus sound designer and editor Hernandez will discuss their careers in individual talks with the Qumra delegates.
This year’s Qumra will run from March 1-6, with the 10th edition a key milestone for a Middle Eastern film event.
“As the Arab world’s first-of-its-kind talent incubator, Qumra has served as the preeminent platform for emerging talents to give their projects a distinct advantage through invaluable networking sessions with leading industry professionals,...
The four directors plus sound designer and editor Hernandez will discuss their careers in individual talks with the Qumra delegates.
This year’s Qumra will run from March 1-6, with the 10th edition a key milestone for a Middle Eastern film event.
“As the Arab world’s first-of-its-kind talent incubator, Qumra has served as the preeminent platform for emerging talents to give their projects a distinct advantage through invaluable networking sessions with leading industry professionals,...
- 2/5/2024
- ScreenDaily
Qatar’s Doha Film Institute (Dfi) has unveiled the 44 titles selected for its 2023 autumn funding round, with titles including Ana Naomi De Sousa’s Naseem, Fight With Grace about the British-Yemeni boxer Naseem Hamed; and Mohamed Jabarah Al Daradji’s Arkala Gilgamesh’s Dream.
Thirty-three of the projects are feature films, plus two TV series in development, and nine shorts.
Scroll down for the full list of selected features
The features are divided into Middle East/North Africa (Mena) titles, and those from outside that region; and then again divided by documentary or narrative; and by production stage.
Currently in post-production,...
Thirty-three of the projects are feature films, plus two TV series in development, and nine shorts.
Scroll down for the full list of selected features
The features are divided into Middle East/North Africa (Mena) titles, and those from outside that region; and then again divided by documentary or narrative; and by production stage.
Currently in post-production,...
- 1/22/2024
- ScreenDaily
Qatar’s Doha Film Institute (Dfi) has announced the recipient projects for its fall 2023 grants cycle, featuring 44 films by first and second-time directors hailing from 32 countries. (scroll down for full list)
The awardee projects span short, medium, feature-length and drama series format, fiction and non-fiction, and are in various stages of development and production.
Highlights include UK director Ana Naomi De Sousa’s documentary Naseem, Fight with Grace about British-Yemeni featherweight boxer Naseem Hamed, aka Prince Naseem and Naz.
Fiction features in the mix include Iraqi director Mohamed Al Daradji new film Arkala Gilgamesh’s Dream about a street child who dreams of bringing back his dead parents through the mythical figure of Gilgamesh, King of Uruk.
Other highly anticipated upcoming features include Moroccan director Alaa Eddine Aljem’s dark comedy Eldorado, the Taste of the South, which is in production, and Palestinian-French-Egyptian filmmaker Rani Massalha’s The Return of The Prodigal Son.
The awardee projects span short, medium, feature-length and drama series format, fiction and non-fiction, and are in various stages of development and production.
Highlights include UK director Ana Naomi De Sousa’s documentary Naseem, Fight with Grace about British-Yemeni featherweight boxer Naseem Hamed, aka Prince Naseem and Naz.
Fiction features in the mix include Iraqi director Mohamed Al Daradji new film Arkala Gilgamesh’s Dream about a street child who dreams of bringing back his dead parents through the mythical figure of Gilgamesh, King of Uruk.
Other highly anticipated upcoming features include Moroccan director Alaa Eddine Aljem’s dark comedy Eldorado, the Taste of the South, which is in production, and Palestinian-French-Egyptian filmmaker Rani Massalha’s The Return of The Prodigal Son.
- 1/22/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The Middle East and North Africa region’s cinema star is rising across every aspect of the chain from production to exhibition to streaming.
Fresh energy has been injected into the sector by the arrival of Saudi Arabia on the scene following the lifting of its cinema ban in 2017 as part of its 2030 Vision diversifying the country’s economy away from oil.
Neighboring Qatar, one of the only stable major sources of funding for film in the region for more than a decade, also continues to play a vital role via the Doha Film Institute.
Its grants program, year-round training initiatives and springtime talent incubator Qumra have supported more than 750 short, features and series projects from 78 countries over the past decade.
The body was out in force at Cannes this year having supported films across Official Selection and the parallel sections, including Palme d’Or contenders About Dry Grasses, Club Zero...
Fresh energy has been injected into the sector by the arrival of Saudi Arabia on the scene following the lifting of its cinema ban in 2017 as part of its 2030 Vision diversifying the country’s economy away from oil.
Neighboring Qatar, one of the only stable major sources of funding for film in the region for more than a decade, also continues to play a vital role via the Doha Film Institute.
Its grants program, year-round training initiatives and springtime talent incubator Qumra have supported more than 750 short, features and series projects from 78 countries over the past decade.
The body was out in force at Cannes this year having supported films across Official Selection and the parallel sections, including Palme d’Or contenders About Dry Grasses, Club Zero...
- 5/31/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Four projects are by Qatari and Qatar-based filmmakers.
The Doha Film Institute (Dfi) has revealed the 29 projects receiving grants through its 2023 spring funding round, with titles including Cannes Competition entry Banel & Adama.
Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s film, which debuts tomorrow (Saturday 20) in the Lumiere Theatre, is one of seven titles receiving a post-production grant.
Scroll down for the full list of Dfi spring 2023 grants
The France-Senegal-Mali-Qatar co-production is set in a northern Senegalese village, where a young married couple’s love challenges the customs of the local community.
The first-ever Congolese Dfi awardee is among the selection: Nelson Makengo’s feature documentary Rising Up At Night,...
The Doha Film Institute (Dfi) has revealed the 29 projects receiving grants through its 2023 spring funding round, with titles including Cannes Competition entry Banel & Adama.
Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s film, which debuts tomorrow (Saturday 20) in the Lumiere Theatre, is one of seven titles receiving a post-production grant.
Scroll down for the full list of Dfi spring 2023 grants
The France-Senegal-Mali-Qatar co-production is set in a northern Senegalese village, where a young married couple’s love challenges the customs of the local community.
The first-ever Congolese Dfi awardee is among the selection: Nelson Makengo’s feature documentary Rising Up At Night,...
- 5/19/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
The Doha Film Institute’s Qumra talent and project incubator event returned as a 100% in-person event last week, bringing participants together face-to-face in Doha for the first time since it was forced online in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“It’s been great to have everyone back gain. I keep pinching myself that it’s still happening. I could not be happier with how it has gone,” said Dfi CEO Fatma Hassan Alremaihi.
The ninth edition, running from March 10 to 15, gathered 44 Dfi grantee projects across all formats and in various stages of development and production, accompanied by their first, second and third-time directors and producers.
The Dfi is one of the main sources of funding for independent cinema in the Middle East and North Africa, a region with very little state support for independent film.
“We have between 400 to 500 submissions per cycle, and we have two cycles a year. It...
“It’s been great to have everyone back gain. I keep pinching myself that it’s still happening. I could not be happier with how it has gone,” said Dfi CEO Fatma Hassan Alremaihi.
The ninth edition, running from March 10 to 15, gathered 44 Dfi grantee projects across all formats and in various stages of development and production, accompanied by their first, second and third-time directors and producers.
The Dfi is one of the main sources of funding for independent cinema in the Middle East and North Africa, a region with very little state support for independent film.
“We have between 400 to 500 submissions per cycle, and we have two cycles a year. It...
- 3/20/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Three months ago, Doha’s new Downtown Msheireb district was the throbbing heart of the FIFA World Cup in Qatar as one of its main fan zones.
Quiz any local on the street or in its cafes and shops about what it was like, and their faces light up as they recount how packed it was and the magical atmosphere.
Billed as the world’s first sustainable downtown regeneration project, the pedestrianized neighborhood is now acting as the backdrop to the Doha Film Institute’s annual Qumra talent incubator, alongside the I.M. Pei-designed Museum of Islamic Art (Mia).
The event, which kicked off on Friday, aims to hothouse 44 film and series projects in various formats and stages of production. All the projects are recipients of the Dfi’s generous grant program
The focus is on Middle East and North African filmmakers but there are also projects from further afield...
Quiz any local on the street or in its cafes and shops about what it was like, and their faces light up as they recount how packed it was and the magical atmosphere.
Billed as the world’s first sustainable downtown regeneration project, the pedestrianized neighborhood is now acting as the backdrop to the Doha Film Institute’s annual Qumra talent incubator, alongside the I.M. Pei-designed Museum of Islamic Art (Mia).
The event, which kicked off on Friday, aims to hothouse 44 film and series projects in various formats and stages of production. All the projects are recipients of the Dfi’s generous grant program
The focus is on Middle East and North African filmmakers but there are also projects from further afield...
- 3/10/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Sundance prize winner Sofia Alaoui, Yemeni-Scottish Oscar-nominee Sara Ishaq and Emmy-feted Egyptian cinematographer Muhammad Hamdy will be among filmmakers presenting projects at the Doha Film Institute’s Qumra event, unfolding in Qatar March 10-15.
The nine edition of the talent incubator aimed at Dfi grantee filmmakers will showcase 44 projects from 23 countries as it returns as a physical event for the first time since 2019.
Moroccan-French director Alaoui, who won Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award: Creative Vision for her fantasy drama Animalia in January, attends with a new series which is in development.
Titled Let The Earth Burn, it revolves around a police academy graduate who is posted to a remote town in the Atlas Mountains despite coming top of her year.
Ishaq, who was Oscar-nominated for short film Karama Has No Walls, will present her second feature project The Station set against a women-only gas station in a gender-segregated village in war-torn Yemen.
The nine edition of the talent incubator aimed at Dfi grantee filmmakers will showcase 44 projects from 23 countries as it returns as a physical event for the first time since 2019.
Moroccan-French director Alaoui, who won Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award: Creative Vision for her fantasy drama Animalia in January, attends with a new series which is in development.
Titled Let The Earth Burn, it revolves around a police academy graduate who is posted to a remote town in the Atlas Mountains despite coming top of her year.
Ishaq, who was Oscar-nominated for short film Karama Has No Walls, will present her second feature project The Station set against a women-only gas station in a gender-segregated village in war-torn Yemen.
- 3/1/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Christopher Hampton, Michael Winterbottom also among speakers at the Doha incubator.
Lynne Ramsay, David Parfitt and Christopher Hampton are among the Masters for Qumra 2023 – the first in-person edition of the Doha Film Institute’s industry incubator since 2019.
The trio will be joined by director Michael Winterbottom and costume designer Jacqueline West. All five will give individual masterclasses to aspiring filmmakers from the region and around the world, offering creative development and mentorship opportunities.
Qumra 2023 will run on a hybrid format, with in-person events from March 10-15, and virtual sessions from March 19-21.
Four of the five Masters are British, with West,...
Lynne Ramsay, David Parfitt and Christopher Hampton are among the Masters for Qumra 2023 – the first in-person edition of the Doha Film Institute’s industry incubator since 2019.
The trio will be joined by director Michael Winterbottom and costume designer Jacqueline West. All five will give individual masterclasses to aspiring filmmakers from the region and around the world, offering creative development and mentorship opportunities.
Qumra 2023 will run on a hybrid format, with in-person events from March 10-15, and virtual sessions from March 19-21.
Four of the five Masters are British, with West,...
- 2/19/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Playwright and screenwriter Christopher Hampton, producer David Parfitt, Dune costume designer Jacqueline West and directors Lynne Ramsay and Michael Winterbottom are to set attend the Qatari Doha Film Institute’s ninth talent incubator event Qumra in March.
The meeting, which returns as an in-person event for the first time in four years from March 10-15 after a Covid-19 pandemic hiatus, focuses on nurturing first and second-time filmmakers.
They attend with their projects that have received funding from the Doha Film Institute (Dfi), a major backer of indie cinema in the Middle East and North Africa.
Hampton, Parfitt, West, Ramsay and Winterbottom are participating in the role of the event’s so-called Qumra Masters.
They will give a masterclass and mentor some of the filmmakers in attendance. The full list of attendees and projects will be announced next week.
Oscar-winner Hampton’s participation follows in the wake of The Father, for...
The meeting, which returns as an in-person event for the first time in four years from March 10-15 after a Covid-19 pandemic hiatus, focuses on nurturing first and second-time filmmakers.
They attend with their projects that have received funding from the Doha Film Institute (Dfi), a major backer of indie cinema in the Middle East and North Africa.
Hampton, Parfitt, West, Ramsay and Winterbottom are participating in the role of the event’s so-called Qumra Masters.
They will give a masterclass and mentor some of the filmmakers in attendance. The full list of attendees and projects will be announced next week.
Oscar-winner Hampton’s participation follows in the wake of The Father, for...
- 2/19/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
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